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Suffering from writer’s block? Have a proposal to do and can’t quite get it started? Here’s a tip that works for me, especially when the work is creative in nature. I give myself a request before I go to sleep at night. For instance, if I’m trying to come up with a marketing idea for a client, or a logo design, or a newsletter concept, I ask myself for the idea right before I go to bed. I tell myself, “I’ll have the idea when I wake up tomorrow morning.” The trick here is to believe that you will be able to do it, and getting a good night’s sleep doesn’t hurt.
Anyone who does sales for a living will tell you that believing you will get the sale is an important part of the process. It doesn’t make up for knowledge about the product or service you are selling and doing research on your prospective customer. However, nothing can end your prospects faster than not believing you will get the sale.
Writing is similar. You still need the basic skills, but the ideas come largely because you believe they will. I’m not sure why this works. My guess is that stress makes it difficult to think creatively. Once you have convinced yourself that you will have the skills and the ideas necessary to complete your project or make your sale, you relieve the stress and allow the ideas to flow.
Try it the next time you have a big project. You may just find a winning solution. After all, how do you think I got the idea for this post?
Want your email to be error-free? Here are some suggestions.
Do you have a tendency to forget to include important pieces of information in your emails or business letters? If so, answer the “5 Ws and an H” as you write:
Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?
Not every email has to answer all of these questions, but if you’re inviting someone to an event or explaining something important, running through these questions will help you cover all the necessary points.
Read it out loud
Once you have finished your email or business letter, read the whole thing out loud. We are all in such a hurry these days that it is normal to leave a word out or say something that doesn’t put across what we intended. Reading out loud forces you to slow down and check for errors. It’s also a good way to check for repetition or phrases that cause the reader to lose concentration.
Find an extra set of eyes
If you have the time, have someone else read over your more important correspondence. An extra set of eyes can give your text a fresh look and find errors that you are too close to see.
If you make a mistake, your reader will probably be able to figure out what you meant. Remember, though, that being clear and error-free makes you look more professional and makes your reader feel he or she was important enough to receive your best effort.
Times are tough. Businesses find it more difficult to stay profitable and layoffs are common. Let’s face it. The economic situation provides employers with an opportunity to let go of people who do not have the skills needed to keep the company competitive. As an employee, you need to increase your abilities to be safe from layoffs. Increased competence will also provide more opportunities to be hired and promoted into jobs that pay well, even in these difficult economic times. The better your skills, the better the odds are that you will be able to ride through these economically difficult months.
One of the most important skills any employee can have is the ability to communicate clearly.
If you cannot write well, you reduce your chances of getting hired. According to a recent survey of businesses, 80% of companies in industries with the highest growth potential use writing skills as a measure for hiring. 86% of companies reject applicants who have poorly written application materials.*
Good writing skills are important after you get hired as well. Over 50% of these same companies assess writing when promoting employees.* You may not even realize how limited your chances at promotion are. If you find that you have been passed over for advancement, your grammar, spelling, and sentence structure skills may be holding you back. The ability to write is necessary in the vast majority of salaried jobs and many hourly positions as well.
In this same survey, business owners expressed how important writing skills are. *
“My view is that good writing is a sign of good thinking. Writing that is persuasive, logical, and orderly is impressive. Writing that’s not careful can be a signal of unclear thinking.”
“…writing appears to be a “marker” attribute of high-skill, high-wage, professional work. This is particularly true in sectors of the economy that are expanding, such as services, and the finance, insurance, and real estate sectors.”
” writing is also a “gatekeeper.” The equity dimensions of the writing challenge are substantial. People who cannot write in the United States can clearly find employment. The findings of this survey, however, indicate that opportunities for salaried employment are limited for employees unable to communicate clearly.”
Statistics and quotations from Writing: A Ticket to Work…Or a Ticket Out, a report of The National Commission on Writing © 2004 by College Entrance Examination Board. See www.writingcommission.org for the full report.
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